Battleworld and Marvel’s Most Broken Multiverse Earths, Ranked

by

Marvel Comics frequently introduces alternate realities through its multiverse, particularly in its *X-Men* comics. Storylines like “Days of Future Past” and “Age of Apocalypse” have been major events, significantly impacting future stories and the creation of new characters. A recurring theme in these stories is that, despite problems on the main Earth (Earth-616), things could always be far worse, as shown by the devastated alternate realities they depict.

I’ve always been fascinated by the darker corners of the Marvel multiverse, and it’s truly chilling to think about all the Earths that have fallen. I recently came across a rundown of the most devastated realities – worlds ravaged by mutant catastrophes, or where the bad guys actually *won* and took over. It’s a really sobering look at how easily things can go wrong.

9) Battleworld

Battleworld isn’t a new concept. The original was created by the Beyonder as a battle arena for Marvel heroes and villains. However, the most recent version, from the latest *Secret Wars* storyline, was built by Doctor Doom. He intended it to be a safe haven for survivors of colliding universes. Doom declared himself God Emperor and ruled Battleworld with an iron grip, creating a generally harsh, medieval-like existence for its inhabitants.

It was horrifying to watch as Doctor Doom turned the Thor Corps into weapons. He condemned countless people to death in the planet’s pits, and even worse, he stole people’s minds, forcing them to worship him – I couldn’t believe he did that to Susan Richards and her daughter, Valeria! He genuinely thought he was saving us, but it was all about his ego. He created a world where none of us were truly free, a world built only to make *him* feel powerful. It was a terrifying display of arrogance.

8) Maestro’s Earth

Earth-9200 was first discovered when the Incredible Hulk unexpectedly traveled to an alternate Earth and encountered a future version of himself who had become a tyrannical leader. The world was a desolate wasteland, ravaged by nuclear war, as Rick Jones, a survivor still living there, explained to Hulk. After a long period of hibernation, Hulk emerged and challenged the ruling version of himself, intent on taking control.

Calling himself Maestro, this villain started eliminating anyone who didn’t accept his rule, even Hercules, and forced the population into servitude. While the Hulk defeated him, recent comic books from the 2020s revealed Maestro’s actions leading up to the events of *Future Imperfect* and the state of the Earth he created.

7) Old Man Logan

Earth-807128 was a bleak, high-tech version of our world, and it’s where the story of Old Man Logan began. In this reality, the villains won, defeating the heroes and dividing the United States into territories they controlled. Wolverine was tragically used as a tool to eliminate the X-Men, with Mysterio cleverly disguising the attack as a full-scale villain invasion of Xavier’s school.

Logan wiped out everyone, but Mysterio then shockingly revealed he’d actually killed the X-Men. Logan stepped away from fighting, settled down, and started a family. However, the United States fell into ruin, becoming a dangerous, post-apocalyptic landscape much like the world in the *Mad Max* films. Things went from bad to worse when the Hulk turned evil and had Logan’s family killed, forcing him to come out of retirement. It was a grim time, and only the most hardened heroes could survive.

6) Age of Apocalypse

Legion is an incredibly powerful mutant who created the reality known as Earth-295. This happened because Professor X’s son traveled back in time with the goal of eliminating his father’s greatest foes. When he attempted to kill Magneto, Professor X stepped in and sacrificed himself to save his friend, which ultimately caused Legion to cease to exist.

In this reality, Magneto became the leader of the X-Men after taking Xavier’s place, but he couldn’t defeat Apocalypse, who then took over the world. Apocalypse ruled harshly, eliminating anyone who opposed him. Even after Apocalypse was defeated, things didn’t get better—Wolverine turned villainous, becoming Weapon Omega and seizing control, demonstrating that this world remained a dangerous place.

5) Days of Future Past

The first significant alternate reality featuring the X-Men was introduced in *X-Men: Days of Future Past*. This world, designated Earth-811, saw a dramatic escalation of anti-mutant sentiment after the assassination of presidential candidate Robert Kelly. Governments responded by increasing production of Sentinels – robots designed to protect humans from mutants. However, the Sentinels turned against everyone, even attacking other heroes like the Avengers, and ultimately took over the government.

Kitty Pryde traveled back in time and successfully stopped an assassination, which changed the future of her world, Earth-616. However, another Earth, designated Earth-811, remained a desolate place for both mutants and humans, proving its fate couldn’t be altered. When Rachel Summers arrived on Earth-616, the X-Men understood that their actions only improved things for their own timeline, not for others.

4) Age of Ultron

As a huge comic book fan, I always found the *Age of Ultron* series fascinating. It wasn’t really tied into the usual X-Men storylines, which was cool. It’s a 2013 event where Ultron *actually wins* – he defeats all the heroes and tries to wipe out humanity. We’re talking billions of people gone, plus tons of heroes and villains who fell trying to stop him. It leaves just a handful of heroes still standing, desperately searching for a way to undo all the damage.

Earth-61112 was a dangerous reality controlled by Ultron, who operated from the future and was seemingly untouchable by heroes. When the heroes attempted to defeat Ultron in the future, they failed. Wolverine tried a different approach, going back in time to eliminate Hank Pym before he could create Ultron. However, this only resulted in an even more devastated Earth when Logan returned to his own time.

3) Marvel Zombies

The Marvel Zombies universe is arguably one of the most devastated realities in the multiverse, and the situation was truly horrific. On Earth-2149 (also known as Earth-Z), a mysterious hero arrived carrying a disease that quickly turned into a full-blown zombie outbreak. These weren’t ordinary zombies, though – they retained their intelligence and, even worse, found ways to travel to other worlds, spreading the infection and destroying entire universes.

After becoming zombies but retaining their intelligence, heroes like Reed Richards, along with their undead companions, defeated Galactus and took his immense cosmic power. With nothing left to consume on Earth, they annihilated all life. Empowered and relentless, they went on to destroy countless other Earths.

2) Ruins

The Marvel comic series *Marvels* was a clever take on superhero origins, showing events through the eyes of everyday people. In 1995, Marvel revisited this concept, but this time focused on a ruined Earth where most heroes were very different from what readers knew.

In this world, things didn’t turn out well for the heroes. The Fantastic Four died before they could truly become heroes, the Avengers failed in their attempt to start a revolution and perished, and Peter Parker and Bruce Banner were tragically transformed into monsters. Even Professor X, instead of helping mutants, was forced to imprison them because of the dangerous consequences of their powers. Driven by these events, Phil Sheldon set out to uncover what went wrong with the world, hoping to document it all in a book.

1) Cancerverse

Earth-10011 is considered the most devastated reality in the Marvel Comics multiverse. The trouble started after Captain Mar-Vell succumbed to cancer and angrily blamed Death, which led to the corruption of many of his former teammates in groups like the Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Defenders.

The heroes’ powerful spell unexpectedly killed Death itself. This upset the balance of the universe, allowing ancient, powerful beings – known as the Many-Angled Ones – to seize control. They corrupted all life, turning every creature into their servant. Ultimately, the Cancerverse transformed not just Earth, but the entire universe, into a lifeless husk.

https://comicbook.com/comics/news/marvel-comics-surprising-characters-you-did-not-know-about/embed/#

Read More

2025-10-12 02:41